GRAND OPENING FOR NEW DUTY FREE SHOPS AT VILNIUS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Travel Retail Vilnius, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gebr Heinemann, yesterday officially opened its new-look main walk-through duty free shop at Vilnius International Airport.

The conversion of the shop follows the six-year contract extension agreed between Vilnius International Airport and Travel Retail Vilnius at the beginning of 2018. 

In addition to the revamp of the main shop, the remaining Heinemann shops at Vilnius International Airport are also being redesgned and expanded. 

A converted shop in the non-Schengen area opened in July of this year while four more outlets are currently under construction in the Schengen area. 

T-shirts, caps, cups with an aviation theme print --->>>

Travel Retail Vilnius previously had ten shops distributed over a total of 1,060sqm at the Lithuanian capital's airport. When the conversion phase is completed in March 2019, there will be six shops over 1,500sqm.

"Vilnius International Airport is an extremely committed and professional partner with a very long-term focus," enthuses Bernard Schlafstein, Gebr Heinemann's sales director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

"For this reason, we are a great match for each other and have been working for ten years now on continuously designing a tailor-made shopping experience. 

"The new shops signal our joint further development and are a great confirmation of our long-term and fair partnership."

T-shirts, caps, cups with an aviation theme print --->>>

Lithuanian Airports executive director, Laura Joffe, said: "The main store reflects global trends and has been successfully implemented as the part of the terminal reconstruction of the commercial areas. 

"By increasing our commercial area we can offer our passengers even more convenient and faster services. Now we are successfully heading towards the further modernisation of Vilnius Airport. We carry out all the work to ensure that our passengers experience services of the highest quality."

Lithuania is a strategically important market for Gebr. Heinemann because, like all Baltic states, it traditionally forms the bridge between Western and Eastern Europe. 

"Lithuanians have also been very keen to travel since joining the EU in 2004. That is the reason why this country is an important part of our growth strategy," revealed Gunnar Heinemann, co-owner of Gebr. Heinemann.

"Over the past decade, we have invested heavily in the Lithuanian market, consolidating our position in the region. We are very satisfied with the results and will further strengthen our commitment here."

Lithuanians account for around 50% to 60% of passengers at Vilnius International Airport. 

In addition to Lithuanians, Germans, Finns and Brits are among the strongest customer groups in the Heinemann Duty Free and Travel Value Shops at Vilnius International Airport.